CDC Admits to Botched COVID Response, Announces Overhaul — Critics, by Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D.

The Centers for Disease Control Wednesday announced a “drastic” overhaul of the agency after admitting to failures in its management of the COVID-19 pandemic. But some critics said the plan isn’t adequate and suggested replacing the agency with a public health model that operates independently from Big Pharma.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Wednesday announced a “drastic” overhaul of the agency aimed at modernizing it and rescuing its reputation after widespread criticism of its COVID-19 response and, more recently, the monkeypox outbreak.

“For 75 years, CDC and public health have been preparing for COVID-19, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in an email to the agency’s 11,000-person staff.

Walensky said the overhaul will focus on making the agency more nimble and responsive to needs that arise in health emergencies.

The CDC in a statement said it has never in its 75-year history “had to make decisions so quickly, based on limited and evolving science,” and that the agency’s traditional scientific and communication processes were “not adequate to effectively respond to a crisis the size and scope of the COVID-19 pandemic.” …

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